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Passion, dedication and the art of pastry

Delicately crafted desserts and treats on display at Nadege Patisserie in downtown Toronto.

Photograph by: Laura Brehaut
, Postmedia News

TORONTO — We tend to talk about how important it is to love the work we do, while stressing the need for boundaries between our personal and professional lives.

But for Nadege Nourian and Morgan McHugh, life partners and co-owners of Nadege Patisserie in Toronto, those lines between work and life, between personal and professional — even between art and business — are often blurred.

Nadege was founded upon a passion for the craft of baking and the shared vision of Nourian and McHugh.

"(Morgan) is totally supportive of what I do," says Nourian, who says she doesn't know if she could have accomplished as much as she has without McHugh. "He's actually as passionate as me about what we do. . . . He's my biggest fan, so it's very nice . . . And you know when, you're a couple, you're much stronger."

Of course, it takes more than passion to run a successful business, it also takes expertise, which is the French-born Nourian's blood.

"I'm the third generation of pastry chefs," she notes. Her great-grandparents had a pastry shop in France, while her grandmother and then her parents owned a restaurant as well.

Family pedigree aside, Nourian also brings 15-20 years of solid experience — including learning the tools of the restaurant trade from her parents, and paying her dues as a waitress. Schooled at the prestigious Institut National de la Boulangerie-Patisserie in Normandy, she studied the art of baking across the various regions of France then went on to spend eight years in London, England, where she was chef of production in the kitchens of some of the city's top restaurants.

McHugh also brings some family expertise —_his father owned a series of well-known Toronto haunts that included the legendary Penny Farthing Cafe in Yorkville, known in the 1950s and 60s as one of the top jazz and blues venues in the city.

McHugh and Nourian met in London. When Nourian's boss sold the business, she was faced with a choice.

"(I thought), I could work as an executive chef for a big company. I was very interested in that. But then when I met Morgan, his background — his dad owned a cafe, he was one of the first people in this city to have a cool place in Toronto back in the 50s. He always had a dream of his own cafe, so we connected on that idea."

The couple moved to Toronto in 2008, bringing with them the dream of starting a new business together —_and a host of challenges to meet. The first was to the need to raise money, because with limited personal savings, Nourian and McHugh were going to have to find financing elsewhere.

"We saved up money and had a lot of family help, from different people, but we couldn't get a loan," she says. "We opened right on the economic crisis and there was no room for a first-time business like us"

Another challenge was the renovations needed to make their chosen location — a former photographer's studio and flat in trendy Queen Street West that had essentially been neglected for 50 years— needed extensive renovations.

"When we opened everybody said that we were crazy to open here, something like that," says Nourian. "So you know, when everything is done, everybody's like, 'Oh that's amazing!' But at that time it was a nasty place."

McHugh did all the work by himself — "18 hours a day, seven days a week, three and a half months non-stop," says Nourian.

By the time all the work was done, the couple literally had nothing left.

"We scraped the bottom," Nourian says. "We put everything we had into that business. Everything. When we finished the renovation, we had nothing. Nothing. We were sleeping on a blowup mattress in (Morgan's aunt's) basement."

The cafe quickly became a success. For passers-by the elegant little boutique — with its all-white interior and minimalist displays filled with brilliantly coloured, meticulously-crafted pastries — was an immediate source of interest.

In May 2011, Nadege opened a second location in midtown Toronto. Staff has swelled from three full-time employees to 25. And there are plans to expand further.

"It's not one set plan right now where it will grow," says Nourian, who adds there will be another location, but not just yet. "We decided not to open any other locations this year because you have to watch your growth as well. You want to make sure everybody's able to take it on, like the team, us. And you don't want to go straight into a wall."

Nourian admits there are plenty of challenges to keep them busy on a daily basis. While there are the usual concerns about paying bills and managing staff, her biggest source of stress is simply not having enough time to do everything.

"Days are too short," she says. "Between being in production, answering email, you have no life on the side, that's for sure. It's a choice of life, but even for the business, I find, like, 24 hours is too short. Sometimes you're like six months has already passed, 'Oh my God! I was supposed to do that! It's still not happening.' That's the challenge of time . . .

"We're only human beings, you know what I'm saying? You wish you could just clone yourself!"

But as hard as things can get, Nourian keeps a positive attitude — and doesn't necessarily mind the curveballs occasionally thrown her way. It's all part of the job, and indeed, one of the many things she loves about her job.

"I love challenge. It's what keeps me going," she says. "But apart from the challenge? The people. Like, you know they (have welcomed us into) the neighbourhood . . .

"The success is really amazing. But (it's) really the people . . . They really understand what (we're) trying to do. We had to face that in the beginning — a lot really didn't understand. And now, people love us and it's amazing the connections. You know, the exchange between what you do — your passion — and the reception. It's hard to (explain) but it's amazing."

Nourian and McHugh can take some satisfaction in knowing that their investment — in time, money, emotional and physical energy — has paid off. They can also take pride in the realization that their vision — their passion for what they do, their attention to detail and perfectionism, both in honing their art and managing a business — is something that has resonated among many people.

Nourian's advice for anyone looking to do something similar is simple: know yourself.

"I think it depends what you want, what is your vision," she says. "The bigger your vision, the harder it's going to be, for sure. You have to know your limit . . . I've got a lot of people who work for me in the kitchen, they're dreaming of one day to have their own place . . . Like if they have a vision of something nice, even, you can see that if their strength is not there, much of it is not going to happen. So maybe sometime you have to adapt to your own personality.

"People have to understand the work it is . . . It's not just like, 'Oh, I love food. I want to open a restaurant'," — there's more to it than just cooking, she says. "Even if it's the smallest place, you still have to oversee everything. So I think that people have to really understand themselves and know their limitations. And then they could know what type of challenge they can take."

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